Iranian Rugby Team Plays In Veils For First European Game

• Members of the Iranian women’s rugby team took to the field in Italy for their first European game ever. The athletes wore veils and long-sleeves. One player explains: “The whole team has learnt how to keep the veil in place.”

She added, “It doesn’t interfere with play and I think we have shown that even a physical game like rugby can be played in a veil.”

• A 27-year-old man from Lake Placid was arrested on Thursday for having a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old girl. Pedro Valladres Martinez crime was discovered after the girl’s family attempted to get a marriage license for the pregnant victim.
• The Indian government said on Monday that it would consider giving permanent commission to women serving as short service commission officers in the legal and education branches of the army. Unfortunately, this may only be available to future appointments – not to existing officers.
• According to a report from the Center for Reproductive Rights, some 560,000 women in the Philippines in 2008 sought illegal abortions. Their figures estimate that around 1,000 women die each year from complications resulting from at-home or dangerous abortions. The New York-based rights group issued a statement urging Phillipine health and justice officials to loosen their strict laws against abortion.
• French riot police have come under fire after a housing rights organization released a video of a woman being dragged along the ground with an infant on her back during a July 21 eviction. The police were evacuating squatters from an encampment in the suburbs of Paris, and though there were no reported injuries, many have described the event as “brutal.”
• Congratulations to Ernesto Larrese and Alejandro Vannelli, who recently became the first gay couple to marry in Argentina. The newlyweds have been together for thirty-four years.
• A new study reveals that women prefer “macho” men to “modest” men. Psychologist Corinne Moss-Racusin discovered this universal truth by hiring actors to stage job interviews. Participants generally liked the braggarts more than the humble dudes.
• A woman in Aberdeen reportedly fell 60 feet and crashed through a roof after losing her balance while having sex with her boyfriend. The naked woman (who was uninjured) disturbed a builder who was working below: “They made a hell of a racket… God knows why they thought it was a good idea,” he remarked.
• When asked “Why not TEDMen?” about her latest venture, TEDWoman, Pat Mitchell, President and CEO of the Paley Media Center and host of TEDWomen said: “People tend to assume that the balance between the sexes is a zero-sum game, that when women win, men lose. But it’s simply not true. In fact, it’s quite the opposite: When women win, we all win. This is one of the key reasons that women are such effective change agents.” Read the rest of the interview here.